Vaughan's Ashes hopes in the balance

Michael Vaughan is set to discover if he is in line for a Test recall against Australia when the selectors name an extended squad for an Ashes camp.

Written by Agence-France Presse

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London:

Former England captain Michael Vaughan is set to discover on Monday if he is in line for a Test recall against Australia when the selectors name an extended squad for an Ashes training camp.

Vaughan has not played for England since resigning as captain following last year's third Test against South Africa at Edgbaston, although he has often stressed how he he wants to play in the upcoming Ashes.

England are due to announce on Monday a 16-man squad for an Ashes training camp and the three-day warm-up match against Warwickshire.

Those players selected can expect to be in contention for the Ashes which starts with the first Test in Cardiff starting on July 8.

National selector Geoff Miller, the former England off-spinner, is also due to unveil the England team to play Warwickshire in a three-day warm-up match at Edgbaston starting on July 1 and the Lions or A side that plays Australia in a four-day match which begins on the same day.

If Vaughan's name cannot be found in any of their various lists, it will be a clear indication yet that England are looking elsewhere for top-order runs against Australia.

So far this season Vaughan, England's 2005 Ashes-winning captain, has done little for Yorkshire to press his claims for a Test recall, scoring only 159 first-class runs at an average of 19.88 in six matches.

He has also suffered a recurrence of a right knee injury which sidelined him for over a year and forced him out of Yorkshire's recent Championship match against Somerset.

Durham fast bowler Steve Harmison has been overlooked so far this season after England lost patience with the erratic pace bowler during their tour of the Caribbean earlier this year.

Instead it was Harmison's fellow Durham paceman Graham Onions who was given his chance during their lopsided early season Test series win at home to the West Indies.

But Harmison has again proven his worth for county champions Durham by taking 30 wickets in six matches, including 16 in his last two games.

He is set to be included in the enlarged squad, if only because he is the fastest bowler at England's disposal, but may struggle to be selected for what is likely to be a 13-man first Test squad, due to be announced on July 4.

Fellow Test exile Monty Panesar has been struggling for wickets, taking just six in as many Championship matches.

The Northamptonshire left-armer's former county colleague Graeme Swann has become England's slow bowler of choice in recent matches.

But the pitch at Cardiff is expected to take turn and that has led to suggestions that England will play two spinners in the Welsh capital.

But leg-spinner Adil Rashid, yet to make his Test debut although he represented England in the World Twenty20, is making a case for inclusion.

"He hasn't played a Test yet so it would be a big ask, but I like him and like his bowling," said England coach Andy Flower.

Injury-prone all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, the star of England's 2005 Ashes triumph, has got through two straight championship matches following a knee injury sustained in the Indian Premier League and is expected to be named in the Test squad.